New Music

January 3, 2009 · by Eric Sorenson

While making music with circuit boards has been a part of pop culture for over thirty years, music is going through a new digital revolution right now. The iPhone, and inexpensive devices similar to it, combine touch screens, large amounts of data storage, fast processors and powerful software development kits that allow programmers to bring musical concepts to the public in a way that was not previously possible.

Brian Eno’s & Peter Chilvers’s Bloom application for the iPhone is one of the best examples I’ve found yet. The best way I can describe it is as a sort of dynamic, interactive album. The application will randomly generate a continuous mix of ambient loops and chords, but the user can also participate by touching the screen. With each touch, a specific tone is played depending on its location on the screen and the mood selected. A ‘ripple’ expands and fades as a visual cue. Mood settings in the options vary the chords and scales. Everyone I’ve shown this to, especially small children, are mesmerized by it. It’s very relaxing to listen to, and it’s never the same twice.

RJDJ takes a completely different approach by sampling sounds from the listener’s environment, and sequencing them together to create a song. The results can be very entertaining, especially when there’s a conversation going on near the microphone.

Most musicians will agree that some of the best ideas are stumbled upon by accident, but they catch the ear of someone who knows what to look for. Applications that are driven by random features of the environment, steered by musical axioms and guided by the listener’s active participation have loads of creative potential. I’m looking forward to participating in the further development of these types of programs by writing a music generator of my own in the near future. The iPhone SDK is a great way to get started with this new trend.

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